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Anderson 2
Anderson 2
5?E 13933
Summary. Many methuds have been used to measure wettabtity. This paper describes the three quantitative
methods in use to&y: contact angle, Amott method, and the U.S. Bureau of Mines (USBM) method. The
advantages and fimitationa of alf the qualitative methods-inrblbition, microscope examination, flotation, glaas
slide, relative permeability curves, capilkmy pressure curves, capiffarinretric method, displacement capillary
pressure, penneabiLhy/saturation relationships, and reservoir logs—are covered. Nuclear magnetic resomnce
(NMR) and dye adsorption, two methods for measuring fractional wettabflily, are also discussed. Fdy, a
metbud is proposed to determine whether a core haa mixed wettabilhy.
Introduction
Thispaper is the second in a series of fitcrature surveys rad], the greater the wetting preference for one fluid over
covering the effects of nettability on core analysis. 1-3 another. If 8 is exactly 90° [1.6 rad], neither fluid
Changes in the wettabtity of cores have been shown to preferentially wets the solid. As shown in Table 1, when
affect electrical propertica, capillary pressure, waterflood O is behveen O and 60 to 75° [0 and I twl.3 rad], the
behavior, relative penncabtity, dispersion, and simulated system is defined as water-wet. When 6 is between 180
EOR. For core analysis to predict tbe behavior of the and 105 to 120° [3.1 and 1.8 tu 2.1 rad], the system is
reservoir, the nettability of the core must be the sime defined m oil-wet. In the middle range of cnntsct angles,
aa the nettability of the undisturbed reservoir reck. a systcm is neutrally or intermediately wet. The contact
When a drop of water is placed on a surface immersed angfe that is chosen as the cutoff varies fmrn paper to
in oil, a cuntsct angle is formed that rsngis from Oto 180” paper.
[0 to 3.14 rad]. A typical oil/water/soIid system is shown The term am —n., is sometimes called the adhesion
in Fig. 1, where the surface energies in the system are tension, LTA 5:
reIated by Young’s equation, 4
~A=v m –Ows=aowcose. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...(2)
am Cos 19=uo$-u . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . (1)
:E’
i CRKiTAL
I
WATER OIL
*~ ‘“l-&#.
..
/
CRYSTAL
/
*
10
~ OIL WET LOG A,,A2=-O.5+ ~
.
I 00 0 I 00
iVERAGE WATER SATURATION, PERCENT AVERAGE WATER SATURATION , PERCENT
\
*“
USBM Wettabiity Index. The third quantitative test that wet. the area under the bfinedrive cntdlkwv messure
is used to measure “tie nettability is the USBM test de- cu~e (when the water displaces the oifj is srn~ler than
veloped by Donaldson et al. 9,17,18The USBM test olso the area under the capillary pressure curve for the reverse
measures the average nettability of the core. The test is displacement. In fact, if the water-wetting is stiong
relatively rapid, requiring a few &ys to test four to eight enough, most of the water wifl spnntmeously inddhe into
plugs. A major advsntage it has over the Amott wettabfl- the core, and the area under the brine-drive curve will
ity test is its sensitivity near neutral nettability. A minor be very small.
disadvantage is that the USBM wettabili~ index can only Before the testis mn, plugs are prepared by centrifi-
be measured on plug-size samples because the samples gation under oil at high speed to drive them to lWS. This
must be.spun in a centrifuge. The USBM test compares point is denoted by the satefiaka (*) in ,Flgs. 4a though
the work necessary for one fluid to displace the other. 4c, which represent wettabfli~ test results in cores with
Because of the favorable free-energy change, the work three “tifferent sufface treatments. During the USBM
required for the wetting fluid to displace the nonwetdng measurement, a modified version of the procedure de-
fluid from the core is less than the work required for the scribd by Hassler and Bnmner47 and Slobod et al. 4s is
oppsite displacement. It has been shown that the required used to calcnlate the centrifigaf capillary pressures. (The
work is pro rtionsl to the area under the capillary pres- USBM method uses the avefage saturations in the core. 17
aue ~umeY,46 ~ ~ti~~ ~~~~a, wh~~ a ..~~ is ~at~~. J.o mntrsat, the centrifugal capillary pressure cufve is
1250 Journalof PetroleumTechnology,November1986
based on’tbe saturation at the face of the core, which is The zreas under the brine- znd oil-&lve curves zre used
czfculated from the ayerage saturation by the method to calcufate the USBM index, while the Amott index uses
found in Ref. 47.) In the first step of the measurement, the volumes of free and totzl water znd oil displacements.
cores are placed in brine and centrifuged at imcrementzl- During the initizl oil-drive step (Curve 1), the plugs are
ly increasing speeds until a capilla~ pressure of – 10 psi driven to IWS. Next, the cores we immersed in water,
[–70 kpa] is reached. This step is known as the brine and the vulume of water that imbibes freely is measured
drive becauae brine displaces oil from the core. At each (Curve 2). During the brine-dive step (Curve 3), the aver-
incremental capiflary pressure, the average saturation of age saturation of the plug is determined from the zmount
the plug iz calculated from the volume of expelled oif. of expelled uil at each incremental capilla~ pressure.
Curve I (Figs. 4a through 4c) is a pIot of capiIlary przs- These data zre used to cslculate the area under the brine-
aure vs. the average saturation for the brine drive. drive curve, A2, for the USBM method. At the end of
In the second step, the core is placed in oif znd cen- the brine-drive step, the plug is left at ROS. The Amott
trifuged. During this oil-drive step, oil dkplacea brine displacement-by-water ratiu, 5 ~, is the ratig of the oil
from the core. As in the first step, the capillzry pressures vulume displaced by free brine imbibition to the totzl
znd averzge saturation are measured until a capillary volume displaced by free imbibition znd centrifugzJ dk-
pressure of 10 psi [70 kpa] is reached. In each czae, the placement (Eq. 3a).
curves sre Iinezrly extrapolated or truncated if the last In the fourth step (Curve 4), the plug is immersed in
pressure ia not exactly 10 psi [70 Wa]. The results of the oil, znd the volume uf oil thzt imbibes spontaneously is
oil drive are plotted as Curve II in Figs. 4a through 4c. measured. The finzl step is the oil drive (curve 5), where
The USBM method uses the ratio of zreas under the. the czpillmy pressures znd average saturations are used
two capillary prezzure curves to czlctdate a we~btily in- to czhxdate A, for the USBM method. Eq. 5 is then used
dex according to l?.q. 5.. to calculate the USBM wettzbili~ index. At the end of
the oil drive, the plug is left at IWS. The Amott dkplace-
w=10g(,4, /A*), . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ...(5) ment-by-oil ratio, 60, is the ratio of the free oil imbibi-
tion to the totzl volume displaced by free imbibkion and
where,4 ~ snd A2 we the areas under the oil- and brine- centiitlzgal displacement (Eq. 3b).
drive curves, respectively. As shown in Table 1,. when There zre two advzntzges of the combined USBM/
W is greater thzn zero, the core is water-wet, znd when Amott method over the stzndard USBM method51: tbe
W is less that zero, the core is oil-wet. A wettzbilty in- resolution of the USBM method is improved by account-
dex nezr zero mezns that the cure is neutrzlly wet. The ing for the saturation chznges that occur at zero capillary
lzrger the absolute vzlue of W, the greater the wetting pressure, znd the Amott index is ZISOcalculated. As dis-
preference. cussed eadier, the AMOttmethod will sometimes indicate
Exzmplcz of water-wet, oil-wet, znd neutrzlly wet cores that a system is nonuniformly wetted.
sre shown in Figs. 4a though 4C for an initizlly water-
wet outcrop Torpedo sandstunc core. Fig. 4a shows the Qualitative Wettabiti,tyMeaaurementi
USBM wettahility index of the untreated water-wet core. Imbibition Method. The most cummonly used qunMz-
The srea under”the oil-drive curve is much lsrger thsn tive nettability measurement is the imbibition meth-
rhe zrez under fhe water-drive curve, yiehiing a wettz- od, 52.57because it gives a quick but rough idea of the
bility index of 0.79. In Fig. 4b, tbe core was treated with wettsb~hy without requiring zny complicated equipment.
zn organosibne compound, which rendered it oil-wet. ‘Ike The originzl imbibition appzrztus tested the wettabfity
zrea under the oil-drive curve is now much smzller thsn at mom temperature and pressure. 52
the mea under the water-drive curve because oif is the More recently, Kyre er al. 57 described a modification
wetting fluid, yielding a wettabWy index of –0.51. In of the apparatus that zllows wettzbility to be measured
Fig. 4c, the core was aged with crude, znd the brine wzz at reservoir conditions. In zn imbibition test, a core at
treated with sodium tripoIyphosphate. The core is now IWS is first submerged in brine undementb a graduated
neutrzlly wet, znd both of the areas zre equal, mzking cyliider, znd the rzte and zmount of oil dkplzced by brine
the USBM wettabfity index zero. imbbitiun zre measured. The core ii strongly watier-wet
A major advantzge of the USBM wettzbility test over if l.zrgevolumes of brine are rzpidly imbibed, while low-
the Amott testis its sensitivity nenr neutrzl wettzbflity. er rates znd smzller volumes imply a more wezkfy water-
On the other band, the USBM test cannot determine wet core. If no water is imbibed, the core is either oil-
whether a system has fractions or mixed wettzb~ity, wet or neutrzlly wet. Non-water-wet cores zre then driven
while the Amutt test is sometimes senzitive. In some to ROS znd submerged in oiI. The imbibition apparaNs
fractional- or fixed-wet systemz, both water znd oil will is inverted, with the grzduated cylinder below the core
fiblbe frmly. 49-51me AMUti method will have pOSitiVe to measure the rate and volume of water dkplaced by uil
displacement-by-wster znd displacement-by-d rstios, in- imtdbltiom If the core imbibes oil, it is oil-wet. The
dicating that the system is nonuniformly wetted. strength of uil-wetness is Miczted by the rste and volume
uf oif imbibition. If neither oil nor water is imbibed, the
Cumbined Amutt/USBM Methud. Sharma and cure.is neuuslly wet. Finzlly, some cores will imbibe both
Wunder1ich51 bzve recentfy developed a modification of water ~d ofi. 49-s] These cores hzve either fiaCtiOnidor
the USBM method that ZIIOWS, the czdculation uf buth the mixed wettab~ky. One problem with the imbibition
Amott ind” USBM wettzbdity indices. The procedure, method is that, in addition to wettahiity, imbMion ratez
shown in Fig. 5, haa tive steps: (1) initizl oil drive, (2) zlso depend on relative permeabfity, viscosity, IFT, pure
spontaneous (free) imbibition of brine, (3) brine drive, structure, znd the initial saturation of the core. 3,10 Fre-
(4) spontanecma (free) imbibition of oil, znif (5) oil drive. quently, this dependence on other vzriables ia reduced by
Journal of PetroleumTechnology,
November19s36 1251
1.0
0.8 -
0.6 -
zL
:
2 0.4-
$2
K
5 0.2-
5
# WATER
:
WATER SATURATION , % PV
(0)
0 100
1(
AvERAGEWATERSATURATION,
PERCENTW
OIL
%
h
\
a% .: *’3
AA
AAA
& A
WAT&T ROCK
(NUGGET SAND]
T
AA
A
\GA2 0
\ A
A
\ 0 ~’3
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A :
wATER
\ C.L
\ 0
A
00
I 0 OIL-WET ROCK
o 0 [SWINGER ~D1
./ .0
O“k
0.1 1 1 1 1 ~
0 20 40 60 60
WE771NGFtlXi5 SATURATION,PERCENTFORE ?PACE CONNATE WATER SNUR.T,ON % W
i9. 7—cOMpariSOfl of gasioil drainage and water/oil im. ~9. 8—Relatiom~~ betwean connate water saturation at
ibition relative permeabltity relationships. Torpedo !urpermeabltity.
andstone. 76
bditv. where the wetting fluid saturation is decreasing. this oil accumulation is detected by stopping the flow,
Thi~ demonstrates that iite core is water-wet. thereby allowing capillary forces to redistribute the oil
Ba~c~ et al. 78 developd a third wettSb~@ memu~-” evenly throughout the core. When flow is started in the
ment technique that is based on unsteady-state relstive per- reverse direction, the pressure drop will initially be low-
meability. Their method uses the capillary end effect that er, gradually rising to its original value as the end effect
occurs when a core initially at IWS is waterflooded at a is re-established on the opposite end of the core.
constant, slow injection rate. The end effect is the accumtJ-
Iation of wetting phase near the outlet end of the core Permeahiity/Saturation Relationships. Two qwdiative
caused by the discontinuity between the porous medium methods based on sir permeability and fluid saturations
~d the o“tfet pipe. 79 An ihcreased pressure drOP cm have been proposed. Both methods are statistical, require
occur because of tbia wetting fluid accumulation. Batycky a relatively tige number of sqnples, and give only a very
et al.’s relative-permeab fitytwettabihty tests are run at rough idea of the wettabfli~. The advantage of the
very slow flow rates, so end effects are very important methods is that only routine core anafysis measurements
in determination of the pressure drop across the core. In are required. However, the reliability of these methods
contrast, standard unsteady-state relative pertneabilty is unknown. The methods are afso limited to core sam-
measurements use high flow rates to minimize the end ples without significant fractures or vugs, in which the
effect. pore structure determines the air permeability.
Batycky et a-f.determined the wettabfky by waterflcod- ~ et al. 16 proposed an empirical methud to deter-
ing the core at very low rstesuntil the ROS WS.V reached. mine reservoir nettability based on connate water satu-
The flow was stopped to alfow the fluid to redistribute, ration and air penneabihy. To obtain the connate water
then restarted in the reverse direction. The core k water- sau.tration,core is obtained with an oil-based drilliig fluid,
wet if there is no change in the pressure drop after the then the freshly cut cores are analyzed for their water con-
flow reversal snd oil-wet if the pressure drop is reduced tent. The cores are extracted and dried, and the air per-
immediately after the reversal. In a water-wet core at meabi@ is messured. A qualitative measure of the
ROS, the wetting fluid saturation will bc high through- wettabtity ii obtained by plotting the comate water satu-
out the cure, with no addkional water accumulation at ibe ration vs. the sir permeability. Fig. 8 shows exanrples
outlet end. 7s,s0 There will be no redismibution of fluids of tlte plot for strongly oil-wet and smonglyw6ter-wet con-
when the flow is stopprG consequently, the pressure drup ditions. 16For the oil-wet case, the average connate water
will not change. On the other hand, if the core is oil-wet, saturation is generally relatively low. The curve is near-
capillaty fortes will cause oil (the wetting phase) to .ac- ly vertical and extends over only a smsll saturation inter-
cumtdate near the outfet. The pressure drop caused by val. Conversely, for the water-wet reservoir, the curwe